Best Professional Certifications in 2026

Find a professional certification that fits the work you want to do. Explore technology and business credentials, compare costs and prerequisites, and find courses, study guides and practice resources for your next step.

Validates knowledge of project leadership, team management and delivery across predictive, agile and hybrid approaches.

695AdvancedHas prerequisites
CompTIA Security+ credential artwork

CompTIA Security+

CompTIA · Exam SY0-701

Validates knowledge of security threats, protective controls, risk management and incident response across modern IT environments.

439EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of network fundamentals, routing, switching, IP services, security and automation for managing connected systems.

300IntermediateNo prerequisites
CompTIA A+ credential artwork

CompTIA A+

CompTIA · Exam 220-1201 and 220-1202

Validates foundational IT support knowledge across hardware, operating systems, networking, security and troubleshooting common technical problems.

548EntryNo prerequisites
Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate credential artwork

Google Cybersecurity Certificate

Google · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in security frameworks, risk management, networks, Linux, SQL, threat detection and response, and Python automation.

294EntryNo prerequisites
Google IT Support Professional Certificate credential artwork

Google IT Support Certificate

Google · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in IT support, including troubleshooting, networking, operating systems, system administration and security.

147EntryNo prerequisites
Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate credential artwork

Google Data Analytics Certificate

Google · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in data analysis, using spreadsheets, SQL, Tableau and Python to prepare and visualize data.

294EntryNo prerequisites
Google Project Management Professional Certificate credential artwork

Google Project Management Certificate

Google · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in project management, including initiation, planning, execution and Agile approaches, applied through a capstone project.

294EntryNo prerequisites
Google AI Essentials credential artwork

Google AI Essentials

Google · Course certificate

Validates foundational skills in using generative AI at work, including AI basics, productivity tools, prompting and responsible use.

49EntryNo prerequisites
ITIL Foundation (Version 5) credential artwork

ITIL Foundation

PeopleCert

Validates foundational knowledge of ITIL concepts, the four dimensions, guiding principles, management practices and continual improvement.

690EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of US employment law and operational HR, including workforce planning, total rewards, engagement and labor relations.

495IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of operational HR across people, organization and workplace topics, plus situational judgment.

499IntermediateNo prerequisites
Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals credential artwork

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Microsoft · Exam AZ-900

Validates foundational knowledge of cloud concepts, Azure architecture and services, and Azure management and governance.

99EntryNo prerequisites
CompTIA Network+ credential artwork

CompTIA Network+

CompTIA · Exam N10-009

Validates knowledge of networking concepts, implementation, operations, security and troubleshooting for managing and supporting modern networks.

399EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of Google Analytics 4 setup, data collection, reports, explorations and connected tools for measuring website performance.

FreeEntryNo prerequisites
Salesforce Certified Platform Administrator credential artwork

Salesforce Platform Administrator

Salesforce · Exam Plat-Admn-201

Validates knowledge of configuring and administering a Salesforce org, including security, data management, automation, reporting and Agentforce.

200IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of financial planning, performance and cost management, internal controls, corporate finance, investment decisions and professional ethics.

1,685IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of administering Azure identities, governance, storage, compute and networking, and monitoring cloud infrastructure.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of IT auditing, covering audit processes, IT governance, systems development, operations, resilience and information asset protection.

810AdvancedHas prerequisites

Validates practical skills in Kubernetes cluster setup, workloads and scheduling, services and networking, storage, and troubleshooting.

445IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of leading Six Sigma projects, including the DMAIC method, advanced statistics, team management and organizational deployment.

585AdvancedHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of building, targeting, bidding and measuring Google Ads campaigns across Search, Display, Video and Shopping.

FreeEntryNo prerequisites
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner credential artwork

AWS Cloud Practitioner

AWS · Exam CLF-C02

Validates foundational knowledge of cloud concepts, core AWS services, security and compliance, and AWS pricing, billing and support.

100EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of designing secure, resilient, high-performing and cost-effective cloud solutions using AWS services.

150IntermediateNo prerequisites
Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert Enterprise Infrastructure credential artwork

Cisco CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure

Cisco · Exam 350-401 + lab

Validates hands-on expertise in designing, deploying and optimizing enterprise networks, including routing, SD-WAN, security, services and automation.

2,000AdvancedNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of fraud schemes, financial transactions, investigation techniques, relevant law and fraud prevention and deterrence.

699IntermediateHas prerequisites
CompTIA CySA+ credential artwork

CompTIA CySA+

CompTIA · Exam CS0-004

Validates knowledge of security operations, including alert and log analysis, vulnerability prioritization, incident handling and reporting.

439IntermediateNo prerequisites
AWS Certified AI Practitioner credential artwork

AWS AI Practitioner

AWS · Exam AIF-C01

Validates foundational knowledge of AI and generative AI concepts, foundation models, responsible AI and AWS AI services.

100EntryNo prerequisites
Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Fundamentals credential artwork

Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals

Microsoft · Exam AI-901

Validates foundational knowledge of AI concepts, responsible AI and building generative AI, vision and speech solutions.

99EntryNo prerequisites
Certified Ethical Hacker credential artwork

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

EC-Council · Exam 312-50

Validates knowledge of attacker tools and techniques, including reconnaissance, system, network, web, wireless and cloud attacks, and cryptography.

1,050IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of Scrum principles, the Scrum framework and Scrum Master responsibilities for serving teams and organizations.

399EntryHas prerequisites
Google UX Design Professional Certificate credential artwork

Google UX Design Certificate

Google · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in UX research, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing and creating high-fidelity designs in Figma.

294EntryNo prerequisites

Validates the ability to apply and tailor PRINCE2 principles, themes and processes to manage projects in real scenarios.

778IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of internal audit fundamentals, ethics, engagement planning and performance, and managing the internal audit function.

1,515IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of the Scrum Product Owner role, including goal setting, customer understanding and Product Backlog management.

399EntryHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of inbound, content, email and digital marketing, sales and revenue operations, and using HubSpot software.

FreeEntryNo prerequisites
IBM Data Science Professional Certificate credential artwork

IBM Data Science Certificate

IBM · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in Python, SQL, data analysis, visualization, machine learning and generative AI tools for data science.

236EntryNo prerequisites

Validates skills in administering Microsoft Entra identities, including hybrid identities, authentication, Conditional Access, workload identities and identity governance.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates practical penetration testing skills, including enumeration, exploitation, privilege escalation, Active Directory attacks and professional reporting.

1,749AdvancedNo prerequisites

Validates skills in preparing, modeling and visualizing data with Power BI, and managing and securing reports and models.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites
SAFe Agilist credential artwork

SAFe Agilist (SA)

Scaled Agile

Validates knowledge of leading with SAFe, including Lean-Agile mindset, team agility, product flow, portfolio management and leading change.

495EntryNo prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of ingesting, transforming, orchestrating, deploying, monitoring and governing data pipelines on the Databricks platform.

200IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of Scrum principles, Scrum Master responsibilities and applying the Scrum framework to support effective teams.

200EntryNo prerequisites

Validates strategic HR knowledge and judgment across leadership, interpersonal and business competencies, and people, organization and workplace knowledge.

499AdvancedHas prerequisites
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert credential artwork

Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Microsoft · Exam AZ-104 / AZ-305

Validates knowledge of designing Azure solutions for identity, governance, monitoring, data, business continuity and infrastructure.

330AdvancedHas prerequisites
Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert credential artwork

Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Expert

Microsoft · Exam SC-100 + qualifying associate exam

Validates expert knowledge of designing Zero Trust strategy, security operations, identity, compliance, and infrastructure, application and data security.

330AdvancedHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of managing devices with Microsoft Intune, including enrollment, Autopilot, device and app protection, updates and monitoring.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of security principles, governance, access control, network and cloud security, and security operations.

249EntryNo prerequisites
SnowPro Core credential artwork

Snowflake SnowPro Core

Snowflake · Exam COF-C03

Validates foundational knowledge of Snowflake architecture, security and governance, data loading, query performance and transformation, and data sharing.

175EntryNo prerequisites
Salesforce Certified Tableau Data Analyst credential artwork

Tableau Data Analyst

Salesforce · Exam Analytics-DA-201

Validates skills in connecting to and transforming data, analyzing it with calculations, and building and publishing Tableau dashboards.

200EntryNo prerequisites
Salesforce Certified Platform Developer credential artwork

Salesforce Platform Developer

Salesforce · Exam Plat-Dev-201

Validates knowledge of building Salesforce applications with Apex, Flow and Lightning Web Components, and testing and deploying them.

200IntermediateNo prerequisites
Cisco Certified Network Professional Enterprise credential artwork

Cisco CCNP Enterprise

Cisco · Exam 350-401 + concentration exam

Validates knowledge of enterprise network architecture, virtualization, infrastructure, assurance, security and automation for designing and troubleshooting networks.

700IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of end-to-end supply chain management, including demand, network design, sourcing, operations, logistics, supplier relationships and risk.

2,015IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of financial risk measurement and management across market, credit, operational and liquidity risk, using quantitative methods.

1,600IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of configuring and administering ServiceNow, including users and access, forms, service catalog, automation and data integration.

300IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates practical skills in implementing access controls, monitoring risk, responding to incidents and securing networks, systems and applications.

384IntermediateHas prerequisites
AWS Certified Developer – Associate credential artwork

AWS Developer Associate

AWS · Exam DVA-C02

Validates knowledge of developing, securing, deploying, troubleshooting and optimizing cloud applications using AWS services.

150IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of AI governance foundations, relevant laws and frameworks, and governing AI development and deployment.

799IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of securing cloud environments, including architecture, data, platforms, applications, operations and cloud legal and compliance requirements.

734AdvancedHas prerequisites
CompTIA Cloud+ credential artwork

CompTIA Cloud+

CompTIA · Exam CV0-004

Validates knowledge of cloud architecture, deployment, operations, security, DevOps fundamentals and troubleshooting across multi-vendor cloud environments.

399IntermediateNo prerequisites
CompTIA Tech+ credential artwork

CompTIA Tech+

CompTIA · Exam FC0-U71 / FC0-U71-CE

Validates foundational IT knowledge across computing basics, hardware, software, programming concepts, databases and security.

129EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of corporate treasury, including liquidity management, long-term funding, banking relationships, risk control and treasury technology.

1,420IntermediateHas prerequisites
IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate credential artwork

IBM Data Analyst Certificate

IBM · Course certificate

Validates practical skills in data analysis using Excel, SQL, Python and IBM Cognos, including data visualization and dashboards.

236EntryNo prerequisites
TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Foundation credential artwork

TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Foundation

The Open Group · Exam OGEA-101

Validates foundational knowledge of the TOGAF Standard, including core concepts, the Architecture Development Method, architecture governance and content.

405EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of alternative investments, including private equity, private debt, hedge funds, real assets and digital assets.

2,740IntermediateHas prerequisites
CompTIA Project+ credential artwork

CompTIA Project+

CompTIA · Exam PK0-005

Validates foundational knowledge of project management concepts, life cycle phases, tools and documentation, and IT governance basics.

399IntermediateNo prerequisites
CompTIA SecurityX credential artwork

CompTIA SecurityX

CompTIA · Exam CAS-005

Validates knowledge of enterprise security architecture and engineering, including governance, risk, compliance and security operations.

544AdvancedNo prerequisites
Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert credential artwork

Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert

Microsoft · Exam MS-102 + qualifying associate exam

Validates knowledge of administering Microsoft 365 tenants, including users, identity, security and compliance.

330AdvancedHas prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of infrastructure as code, the Terraform workflow, configuration, modules, state management and HCP Terraform.

70.50IntermediateNo prerequisites
AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate credential artwork

AWS Data Engineer Associate

AWS · Exam DEA-C01

Validates knowledge of data ingestion, transformation, store management, pipeline operations, and data security and governance using AWS services.

150IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of setting up, deploying, operating and securing Google Cloud environments, including access and security configuration.

125IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of generative AI concepts, Google Cloud generative AI offerings, improving model output and leading responsible adoption.

99EntryNo prerequisites

Validates practical skills in administering Red Hat Enterprise Linux, including software, storage, file systems, networking, users and security.

500IntermediateNo prerequisites
AWS Certified Security – Specialty credential artwork

AWS Security Specialty

AWS · Exam SCS-C03

Validates knowledge of securing AWS workloads, including threat detection, incident response, infrastructure security, identity, data protection and governance.

300AdvancedNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of designing complex multi-account solutions, improving existing workloads, and migrating and modernizing applications using AWS services.

300AdvancedNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of running corporate compliance and ethics programs, including policies, oversight, training, monitoring, investigations and risk assessment.

450IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of data management, including governance, modeling, quality, metadata, architecture, integration and security, based on the DAMA-DMBOK.

311EntryHas prerequisites
CompTIA Linux+ credential artwork

CompTIA Linux+

CompTIA · Exam XK0-006

Validates knowledge of Linux system management, services and users, security, automation and scripting, and troubleshooting.

399IntermediateNo prerequisites
CompTIA SecAI+ credential artwork

CompTIA SecAI+

CompTIA · Exam CY0-001

Validates knowledge of AI concepts, securing AI systems, AI-assisted security operations, and AI governance, risk and compliance.

298IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates practical skills in detecting, investigating and responding to security incidents, including attacker techniques, credential attacks and exploitation.

999IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of access control, networking, cryptography, Linux and Windows security, cloud security and incident handling.

999IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of user experience practice, including research, interaction design, management and AI applications.

6,575EntryHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of program management, including strategic alignment, life cycle management, benefits delivery, stakeholder engagement and governance.

1,000AdvancedHas prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio agents, and managing and securing Power Platform environments.

99EntryNo prerequisites

Validates skills in preparing data, building and tuning models, and deploying and securing machine learning workloads on AWS.

75IntermediateNo prerequisites
Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals credential artwork

Microsoft Azure Data Fundamentals

Microsoft · Exam DP-900

Validates foundational knowledge of core data concepts, relational and non-relational data, and analytics workloads on Azure.

99EntryNo prerequisites
CompTIA Data+ credential artwork

CompTIA Data+

CompTIA · Exam DA0-002

Validates foundational data analytics skills across data concepts, acquisition and preparation, analysis, visualization, reporting and data governance.

264EntryNo prerequisites
CompTIA PenTest+ credential artwork

CompTIA PenTest+

CompTIA · Exam PT0-003

Validates practical skills in planning, performing and reporting penetration tests, from scoping and reconnaissance to exploitation and post-exploitation.

439IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of quality auditing, including audit fundamentals, planning and performing audits, auditor competencies and quality tools.

550AdvancedHas prerequisites
Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert credential artwork

Microsoft DevOps Engineer Expert

Microsoft · Exam AZ-104 / AZ-400

Validates knowledge of designing DevOps solutions, including source control, build and release pipelines, security and compliance, and instrumentation.

330AdvancedHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of preparing data and building semantic models in Microsoft Fabric, including governance, SQL, KQL and DAX.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates skills in building Microsoft Fabric pipelines, including ingestion and transformation with PySpark, SQL and KQL, and monitoring.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of digital forensics and incident response, including memory forensics, timelines, Windows artifacts and enterprise investigations.

999IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of designing Oracle Cloud Infrastructure solutions across identity and access management, networking, compute and storage.

FreeIntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of the PRINCE2 project management method, including its principles, people, practices and processes.

701EntryNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of running a privacy program, including governance, data assessment, data protection, performance measurement and incident response.

800IntermediateNo prerequisites
GitHub Copilot credential artwork

GitHub Copilot

GitHub · Exam GH-300

Validates knowledge of using GitHub Copilot across IDE, CLI and chat, covering prompting, data handling and policy controls.

99IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of Meta advertising, including business presence, ad fundamentals, creating and managing ads, and campaign reporting.

99EntryNo prerequisites
TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Practitioner credential artwork

TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Practitioner

The Open Group · Exam OGEA-103 (combined)

Validates the ability to apply the TOGAF Standard and its Architecture Development Method to enterprise architecture scenarios.

610IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates practical skills in network intrusion detection, including packet-level TCP/IP analysis, tcpdump, Wireshark, Snort, Zeek and network forensics.

999IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of digital forensics, including evidence handling and analysis of disks, operating systems, networks, cloud and mobile.

750IntermediateHas prerequisites
GitHub Foundations credential artwork

GitHub Foundations

GitHub · Exam GH-900

Validates foundational knowledge of Git and GitHub, including repositories, collaboration, project management, automation, security and administration.

99EntryNo prerequisites

Validates foundational knowledge of the FinOps Framework, including its principles, personas, capabilities and scopes, for managing cloud spend.

325IntermediateNo prerequisites
GitHub Actions credential artwork

GitHub Actions

GitHub · Exam GH-200

Validates knowledge of authoring and troubleshooting workflows, building custom actions, managing Actions across an enterprise and securing pipelines.

99IntermediateNo prerequisites
Palo Alto Networks Certified Next-Generation Firewall Engineer credential artwork

Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall Engineer

Palo Alto Networks · Exam NGFW-Engineer

Validates practical skills in configuring Palo Alto Networks firewalls, including PAN-OS networking, device settings, Panorama and deployment automation.

250IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of building AI-enabled Azure back-end solutions using containers, Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, Redis, messaging, security and monitoring.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of security governance, executive leadership, program management, core security competencies, and strategic planning, finance and procurement.

1,099AdvancedHas prerequisites
CCNA Cybersecurity credential artwork

Cisco CCNA Cybersecurity

Cisco · Exam 200-201 CCNACBR

Validates knowledge of security operations work, including security concepts, monitoring, host-based analysis, network intrusion analysis and security procedures.

300EntryNo prerequisites
GitHub Certified: Agentic AI Developer credential artwork

GitHub Agentic AI Developer

GitHub · Exam GH-600

Validates knowledge of running AI coding agents in GitHub workflows, including tool use, state, evaluation, orchestration and guardrails.

165IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of managing security programs, including policy, risk, projects, vendors, SOC management and incident response.

999AdvancedNo prerequisites
GitHub Administration credential artwork

GitHub Administration

GitHub · Exam GH-100

Validates knowledge of managing GitHub Enterprise identities and access, environment setup, secure development, Actions governance and usage monitoring.

99IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of enterprise defense, including hardening, detection, network and identity analysis, incident response and malware triage.

999IntermediateNo prerequisites
CyberSec First Responder credential artwork

CyberSec First Responder (CFR)

CertNexus · Exam CFR-410

Validates knowledge of identifying, detecting, responding to and recovering from cybersecurity threats using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

367.50IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates knowledge of applying the FinOps Framework to AI costs, including allocation, forecasting, governance, optimization and unit economics.

500IntermediateHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of applying the FinOps Framework across public cloud, SaaS, data center and data cloud platforms.

500IntermediateHas prerequisites
AWS Certified AI Business Strategist credential artwork

AWS AI Business Strategist

AWS · Exam AIB-C01

Validates knowledge of AI fundamentals, business value creation, responsible AI governance and leading organizational AI transformation.

50IntermediateNo prerequisites

Validates ability to apply Claude to everyday business tasks, including prompting, checking output, choosing features and models, setting up Projects and using AI responsibly.

99EntryHas prerequisites

Validates knowledge of building production Claude applications, including API integration, agents, tools and MCP, prompt and context engineering, evals, security and cost.

125EntryHas prerequisites